9 September 2026 · Storm
The first 48 hours
after a hailstorm.
Most of the mistakes people make after a storm happen in the first two days, usually because somebody knocked on the door before they had time to think.
9 September 2026 · Storm
Most of the mistakes people make after a storm happen in the first two days, usually because somebody knocked on the door before they had time to think.
In order: stay off the roof, photograph everything from the ground, stop any water getting in, then get an inspection before you file. Nothing on that list requires you to sign anything or decide anything in the first two days.
In order
More people are hurt falling off roofs after storms than by the storms. Hail damage is not visible from the ground and it is not urgent enough to justify a ladder.
Time stamped photos of your yard, cars, gutters, downspouts, siding, and any stain on a ceiling. Hail that dented a gutter or a car hood probably bruised the roof too, and that evidence disappears in a week.
If water is coming through, move what you can and put a bucket under it. A tarp is worth it if the roof is open, but not worth climbing for.
Carriers work from the date of loss and every policy has a deadline. Knowing the exact date matters more later than anybody expects.
You want to know whether there is enough damage to be worth a claim before you put one on your record. A free inspection answers that.
With photographs of what is up there, the conversation with your carrier is about evidence rather than opinion.
What not to do
Straight answers
It depends on the policy, and the clock runs from the date of loss rather than the date you noticed.
Most carriers want it inside a year, some are shorter. It is worth checking sooner than later, because a roof that leaks two winters after the storm is a maintenance problem in the carrier's eyes.
A weather claim is not treated the same as an at-fault claim, though carriers do look at claim history.
That is a conversation with your agent, not with a roofer. Anybody who tells you it definitely will not affect anything is guessing on your behalf.
No. Hail bruising is not visible from a driveway.
It might still be worth having the roof looked at, but that particular sentence tells you how they work. There is a longer guide on checking out a roofer.
Keep reading
The whole process, start to finish, is on the storm damage and insurance claims page.
Get the roof looked at first. A claim you file before anybody has been up there is a claim on your record whether it pays out or not.
Read it→No. There is no state law that names deductibles, and that is the part most people get wrong. Here is the law that does apply.
Read it→One pays the depreciated value of a worn roof and stops. The other pays the rest once the work is done. Check which one you have before you budget.
Read it→Your policy sets that deadline, not Pennsylvania law, and the clock starts the day of the storm rather than the day you noticed.
Read it→No, and a contractor who says otherwise before getting on the roof is guessing. Here is what decides it.
Read it→Free inspection, photographed the way a carrier needs to see it, with an honest answer on whether it is worth filing.